Hooman Saberinia, MD

2024-06-20

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Can We Help Stop Bleeding in Badly Injured People

What Does the Blood Do? Blood carries the food and oxygen that the body needs to work normally. Blood moves through our bodies in tubes called blood vessels, taking food and oxygen to where they are needed. If the blood vessels are damaged, the blood inside leaks out and this is called bleeding. Most bleeding is minor and is stopped by components of the blood itself. Small cells in the blood called plateletsFragments of large cells found in the blood which have an important job in making blood clots. stick to damaged parts of the blood vessel and to each other, making a plug called a blood clot that blocks the hole to stop the leak. This plug can easily be washed away or broken apart, so the platelets send messages to other cells and proteins in the blood to make the clot stronger. FibrinogenA naturally occurring substance dissolved in the blood. When somebody bleeds, fibrinogen is converted into fibrin. is one of the main proteins that helps make blood clots stronger, and this protein travels in the blood all the time. When there is bleeding, the body turns fibrinogen into stringy fibers called fibrinA string like substance which strengthens blood clots., which are knitted around the platelets to hold them in place. At the same time, the body starts to break down some of the fibrinogen fibers, so the clot does not get too big. This happens to keep the balance—so the clot that forms is big enough to plug the hole, but not too big that it blocks blood vessels Serious Injuries Can Cause The Blood To Stop Clotting More serious injuries, sometimes called major traumaSerious and often multiple injuries which are likely to cause death or disability. [1], are divided into two groups: blunt and penetrating. Blunt injuries, such as a fall, being hit with an object, or being hit by a car, usually cause bleeding inside the body. Penetrating injuries, like being stabbed or cut, are when something breaks the skin and we see blood come out. If the bleeding from blunt or penetrating injuries causes so much blood to leak out that the body cannot get enough food or oxygen to work properly, it is called major hemorrhageSerious bleeding in which a person may lose half their blood in less than 3 h.. Around four in 10 people with major hemorrhage develop a condition called trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC)A blood clotting problem that happens in seriously injured people that makes it difficult to stop them from bleeding.